Memphis forward David Nickelberry (right0 drives for a layup against the ECU defense during second half action at the FedExForum in Memphis Tenn., Sunday, March 4, 2018. Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Memphis senior Alex Moffatt (left) gets a hug from teammate Raynere Thornton (right) during the final minutes of a 90-70 victory over ECU at the FedExForum in Memphis Tenn., Sunday, March 4, 2018. Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Memphis forward Jimario Rivers (middle) along with this family greets his teammates during Senior Night activities before taking on ECU at the FedExForum in Memphis Tenn., Sunday, March 4, 2018. Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Memphis forward Jimario Rivers (top) goes up for a shot over the ECU defense during first half action at the FedExForum in Memphis Tenn., Sunday, March 4, 2018.(Photo: Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal)Buy Photo

Jimario Rivers gathered up the ball, raced down the court and rose for the high-flying dunk.

The senior had his moment.

The Memphis Tigers would go on to get the emphatic win.

Memphis ended its regular season by defeating East Carolina, 90-70, and in any normal year that would be occasion for rejoicing all around. But this is not a normal year. It hasn’t been from the start. So how you feel about Sunday’s victory almost certainly depends less on what actually transpired at FedExForum than on what you think about head coach Tubby Smith.

If you believe in Smith, you’ll celebrate the rousing and triumphant end to the season.

If you don’t believe in Smith, you’ll say that even he would have a hard time losing back-to-back home games against teams rated in the 300s at KenPom.

If you believe in Smith, you’ll applaud him for taking a team that was picked to finish ninth in the conference and finishing fifth instead.

If you don’t believe in Smith, you’ll remind everyone that the reason the team was picked to finish ninth was that he lost his best players to transfer and replaced them with a whole bunch of junior college guys.

If you believe in Smith, you’ll conclude that 19 regular-season wins is pretty darn good.

If you don’t believe in Smith, you’ll conclude that it can’t be that good when Memphis isn’t even considered a bubble team for the NIT.

If you believe in Smith, you’ll be enthused that Memphis finally added another recruit, combo guard Myreon Jones.

If you don’t believe in Smith, you’ll roll your eyes at the idea that a two-person recruiting class that ranks 60th in the country is cause for enthusiasm.

And so it goes. This is where the program finds itself. Games aren’t just games any longer. They’re fodder for those who have long since chosen sides.

In the meantime, attendance continues to plummet, and to cost the university serious cash. The announced crowd Sunday was 6,474, and the actual crowd was smaller than that.

Memphis hasn’t drawn this few fans since the 1969-1970 season. For the first time ever, the school likely won’t get a penny of the $800,000 available to it under the FedExForum lease. That’s on top of a $1.1 million drop in athletic department contributions, which is largely the result of fans giving up their basketball seats.

When asked about this unfortunate trend by my colleague, Mark Giannotto, Smith said that “fans take a while to understand and appreciate that when you have to restore and rebuild and rejuvenate, it takes awhile.”

In other words, the attendance has nothing to do with the massive player defections or the indifferent recruiting or the unenthusiastic public relations or the losses to teams like East Carolina and South Florida. No, the problem is that Memphis fans don’t yet “understand and appreciate” Smith’s work.

Maybe they’ll come to appreciate it, if Memphis wins big enough. But I’m not sure the condescending explanation is much of a help. What would help would be a deep run through the American Athletic Conference tournament, starting with a Thursday rematch against South Florida.

Win that and Memphis will get Tulsa. Win that and it’ll likely be Cincinnati next. Win then and Memphis should face Houston or Wichita State in the title game. Win that and it might bring a happy end to our civic debate.

But for now, it’s what we’re left with, it’s the prism through which those fans who remain watch every game. Memphis smashed East Carolina to end the regular season Sunday. That’s either a another positive sign for the future, or it’s too little, too late.